00:00 This episode is about the history and varieties of cheese, including the accidental invention of cheese.

05:17 Cheese has been around since at least 3200 BC and there are various legends about its accidental invention, such as a shepherd leaving his lunch in a cave and it becoming moldy but still tasty, and Rokafort being invented by a shepherd who had curdled milk.

10:01 Feta cheese made from unpasteurized milk is illegal in the US because it doesn't meet the aging requirements for raw milk cheese, which must be aged for at least 60 days.

14:31 There are different types of cheese, including fresh, soft ripened, wash rind, natural rind, blue veined, uncooked pressed, cooked pressed, and processed, each with their own characteristics and methods of production.

19:00 There are different types of cheese, including natural rind, blue veined, pressed (cooked and uncooked), and processed, each with their own characteristics and methods of production.

23:32 Cheese can be made from various types of milk, including cow, goat, sheep, buffalo, camel, horse, and even cat, and the process involves curdling the milk with lactic acid and rennet enzymes, shaping and draining the curds, salting, washing, seeding, and maturing the cheese.

28:00 The process of making cheese involves adding rennet to milk to create curds, cutting the curds, separating them from the whey, and then further processing the curds with bacteria and salt to develop flavor and texture.

32:21 The process of making cheese involves rubbing salt on the outside of the cheese to create the rind, controlling temperature and humidity in a cave-like environment, needling the cheese to create mold, and some cheeses involve allowing maggots to eat and putrify the cheese.

37:16 When cutting cheese, round cheeses should be cut in wedges, cheese bought in slices should be cut lengthwise, and tall truffles should be sliced horizontally; when pairing cheese and wine, wider and fresher cheeses go well with crisper and fruitier wines, smooth fatty cheese pairs well with smooth slightly oily wine, sweet wine contrasts with highly acidic cheese, and dry fresh wines are ideally suited to soft cheeses; it is recommended to visit a cheese monger to try new cheeses and to store unpasteurized cheese properly to maintain its quality.

41:56 Hard, semi-hard, and semi-soft cheeses should be stored at temperatures between 8 to 13 degrees Celsius, wrapped in wax paper and placed in a loose fitting food bag to maintain humidity and prevent drying out; blue cheeses should be wrapped separately to avoid spreading mold and flavors to other foods; chilled cheeses should be taken out of the fridge 1-2 hours before serving and soft cheeses should be wrapped loosely in wax paper and a loose Ziploc bag; Monterey Jack cheese comes from Monterey, California and is one of the four American Native American cheeses; mozzarella is the number one cheese produced in the US, likely due to pizza consumption; Wisconsin's cheese trade was influenced by Swiss immigrants in the 1800s; Asia, particularly China and South Korea, is experiencing a rise in cheese consumption, leading to increased cheese imports; for more information on cheese, visit HowStuffWorks.com.